Leonardo took a deep draught of fresh air, breathing in the slight chill of the autumn evening. The crescent moon was a small sliver, barely visible from the rooftop upon which he was perched.
Raphael leaned against the ledge beside him, sighing heavily. "Feels good to get out, don't it, Fearless?"
Leo nodded. It was a great feeling to stretch his legs over their rooftop run, but discouragement tugged at his heart. It had been almost two weeks since their girls had left the city, and he'd placed high hopes on their original lead from the Travel Agency.
We picked up something interesting all right, in the form of another member. As unexpected as it was, I don't see it as a bad thing. Jazz feels like an enigma; I can't wait to see how she relates to the rest of our group. We still need to figure out how we're going to make this up to her.
"Leo," his brother said curiously. "You've been staring at that same building for like ten minutes. Are you seeing something that I don't, or are you zoning out on me?"
The blue-masked turtle offered him a half smile. "No, I don't see anything. I'm just distracted."
"No kidding, Bro. What could you be thinking about?"
Leonardo chuckled, resting both arms on the concrete ledge. "Absolutely nothing, Raph." He shook his head as another somber wave overtook the brief respite. "This is one of those times when I long for Sensei the most. I'd give anything to be able to sit at his feet right now and take some direction."
Raphael's brow furrowed, and he hesitated before responding. "Leo, I know what you're saying. There are a lot of times when I'd like to talk to him myself. But…I think there comes a point when you gotta be able to trust the lessons he gave us, and your own gut. You got killer instincts, Bro, and I mean that in a good way. You can't second-guess yourself. Sensei chose you for this spot. He knew you could do it, and we do too."
Leonardo was surprised to feel emotion welling up, and his first reaction was to turn his head so that his brother wouldn't see it. "No one's immune to making mistakes, Raph. After everything we went through last time, and the way we fought back against crushing odds…I can't believe that we're doing this again."
"Neither can I," Raphael said darkly. "But that ain't your fault, Leo. I need to hear you say it. You did right by turning Takashi in to the cops."
"I did what I thought I had to," he murmured. "But things are different now; it isn't only about us. The Akiudo is posing a threat to a much larger group of people." He took a sharp breath. "I feel like Takashi is forcing my hand this time. He has to go down."
"And you're struggling with that idea," Raphael supplied.
"Taking a life isn't something any of us can do lightly," Leo said stiffly.
"What about when you're in a war, Fearless? This is no joke. They've already killed innocent people, and they're threatening to do it again. They're not coming up against able-bodied warriors. They're picking on helpless civilians, who ain't doing nothing but minding their own business. That requires action from us, Leo, and we can't go easy on them. They're too dang dangerous."
"I agree, but we're still up a river," he replied. "We can't find them."
"They wanna catch up with us too, Leo. They have to turn up around here, and we're gonna be ready for them. It's time to get ruthless – we ain't got no other option."
Leonardo shivered as the wind picked up stronger. "It's not about revenge," he said to himself. "It can't be."
"No – it's about taking down the criminals before they take the city down," Raphael offered. "But there's no reason we can't enjoy it."
Leo shot him a smile. "You're hopeless, Raph."
"I just say what other people are thinking."
"You have a gift for that."
"And you've gotta gift for leading us, Leo." Raphael's fist nudged his shoulder. "You're gonna know exactly what to do when the time comes, 'cause you were raised right. We all were."
Leonardo nodded. We were trained to use no more force than necessary. This time we have to bring it all, no question about it. We can't allow them the opportunity to bounce back again. He looked at his watch. "Do you want to head back?"
"Not really," Raphael said honestly. "But we better."
Leo held lingering eye contact with him until Raphael cocked his head.
"What, Leo? What do you wanna say?"
"Thanks, Raph."
The red-masked turtle smirked. "I got you, Bro."
Michelangelo's triumphant cry was the first thing Leonardo heard when he got the door open at home.
"The game's not over, Mikey! Sit your shell down," Greg insisted in the background.
Leonardo smiled at the picture of his youngest brother celebrating whatever victory he'd just pulled out. Mike's been so down lately. It's nice to see him enjoying himself a little, even if it's at someone else's expense.
Raphael thumped a hand on Greg's back. "Getting your tail kicked, Man? How many times does that make for tonight?"
"Shut up," the man retorted. "Again, Mike! And pick a different character to race with this time!"
Mike snickered. "You think it makes a difference who drives my car? I could choose the Princess and I'll still beat you."
"You gotta be able to accept defeat, Heff. Why prolong the torture?" Raphael added.
"Because the game isn't over," Greg said through clenched teeth.
Leonardo was surprised to notice Sayuri slouched across Raphael's favorite chair. The woman appeared to be dozing, completely oblivious to the noise that Michelangelo was making. She's adjusted quickly, he said to himself.
The red-masked turtle moved in the direction of the kitchen. "I could go for something to eat, Leo. You want?"
Leonardo turned from the scene of Mike and Greg beginning another race, and followed his younger brother into the kitchen. Brandon and Jazz were sitting at the table with the remnants of Karina's chocolate peanut butter cookies between them.
Leo stood back for a moment to watch the pair interact, and was struck by the softness in Brandon's face. Jazz looked so relaxed that he couldn't help staring. He suddenly felt awkward for entering the room, as if he and Raphael were interrupting something.
Raphael didn't appear to notice. "Hey, you're not gonna finish those off, are you?" he protested.
"We might," Brandon replied. "What are you going to do about it, Raph?"
"No way, Man, scoot over," Raphael insisted.
Brandon shifted in the young woman's direction to let Raphael in, and Leonardo grabbed a chair on the other side of the table.
"What are you guys doing with yourselves?" Leo asked casually.
Jazz shook her head. "We got bored watching Greg getting beat down. Punk doesn't know when to quit," she said. "I swear time stands still down here. It feels like every day lasts about 30 hours."
"Now you see why we had to get out for a run?" Raphael suggested.
Jazz grinned. "I'd really love to know how you guys have avoided notice for as long as you have."
Brandon chuckled. "You caught them at a rare exposed moment, Jazz. Invisibility is usually their specialty. Besides, their preferred method of exercise is out of sight of most people."
Raphael guffawed. "Yep, not too many people to run into on the rooftops."
"Rooftops?" she repeated.
"That's something you'll have to see to believe," Brandon told her.
"I can't imagine being more shocked than I already have been," the young woman returned.
Leonardo's eye ridges rose. "I don't know about that, Jazz."
"True. I have yet to meet the rest of your people," she allowed.
"What about your people?" Raphael asked. "You've been here like two weeks. Isn't anybody wondering where you are?"
Jazz shrugged. "No. I keep to myself for the most part, and my parents are stationed in Germany."
"None of your friends from work will wonder what happened to you?" Leo asked.
Jazz gave the plate of cookies a small shove so that Raphael could reach it more easily. "I don't do friends."
"You don't do friends?" Brandon sounded curious.
"In my experience, life is simpler when I deal with as few people as possible."
Leonardo swallowed inwardly, regretting that the subject had been broached.
"It's not supposed to be personal, like I hate the world or something," Jazz continued. "I just don't like being forced to rely on anyone else. People have a way of disappointing me, and I always end up disappointing them."
The young woman stared down at the table and silence prevailed for a few seconds. "I like to make things easy. Life is hard enough without having to worry about what everyone else might be thinking of me."
"I'm with you there." Raphael grinned, and Leonardo sensed his brother trying to lighten the atmosphere. "You don't strike me as the kind of girl who'd take crap from anyone."
"I'm not really that tough, no matter what you think," she answered. "I'd rather avoid trouble than get into someone else's face."
"So…" Brandon hesitated, clearing his throat. "Is your look more about being creative, or…"
Jazz laughed at his obvious discomfort in asking. "My look…Well, it kind of evolved over the years of being an Army kid. We moved around a lot. My dad wasn't a Colonel yet, but he was climbing in the ranks, so it meant a lot of different outposts and schools. I was different; a huge geek, you might say. Every time we moved, fitting in was a little bit harder. One day I just woke up and said screw it."
The young woman smiled to herself. "My touches had to be subtle at first, or something that I could easily hide. My dad is an Army man, and he acted like it. He was a good father, strict, of course. When I went away to MIT, my style took on a whole new level. In the beginning I think it was partially about rebelling against my father and the kids I didn't fit in with. Now it's more like the zone where I feel comfortable."
"Do you keep in touch with your parents?" Brandon asked.
Jazz took a soft breath. "No, not since I was convicted. That was the nail in my coffin as far as my dad was concerned."
Leonardo winced. Shell. No wonder she hasn't mentioned anything about them before now. This is beginning to feel too heavy.
"I'm sorry," Brandon mumbled.
She shrugged once more. "That's the way it is. Honestly, I feel sorry for them sometimes. They raised us right, and it's not their fault we turned out this way."
"That's a funny way to put it," Brandon said carefully. "They abandoned you, and you feel sorry for them?"
"If you knew the backlash they had to face from my stupidity—"
"What about what you had to face?" Brandon inserted. "You were set up for things you didn't do. That doesn't bother you?"
"I made my bed," she replied.
"You said us," Leonardo mentioned suddenly.
Her head jerked to face him. "What?"
"You said your parents raised 'us' right."
Jazz looked flustered for the first time. "Yeah, my older brother and I. But enough about my sad little life. There are so many other things we could talk about."
Leonardo nodded swiftly. "Sorry; I wasn't trying to pry."
She waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it, Leo. Did you guys see anything interesting tonight?"
"Not really. We weren't exactly looking for trouble, and we didn't find any," Leonardo told her.
"What if the wrong person sees you up there?" she wondered. "You guys got lucky with me. Even if I had run straight to the cops with that story, they would've taken one look at me and sent me to the loony bin."
"We don't make a habit of letting people see us," Leo explained.
"Yeah, you caught Leo on an 'off' night." Raphael snickered.
Leonardo glared at his brother. "None of us knew she was there."
"She still saw your shell first," the red-masked turtle pointed out. "Face it, Bro. You blew our cover."
Leonardo wanted to object, but he didn't have an argument with which to return.
"And you were the first one to open your big mouth!" Jazz retorted to Raphael.
"Your mouth was a whole lot bigger than mine," Raphael replied.
"You sound like you wanna hear it again," she offered.
"If the kids were here, that could be considered a threat," Brandon said dryly.
"Could be?" Raph repeated. "The kids would be able to hear her all the way from North Carolina!"
Leonardo rolled his eyes, but couldn't help chuckling to himself. The more time passes, the more comfortable she feels. I have a feeling Jazz is going to be a lifer.